{"id":4572,"date":"2009-03-06T15:29:57","date_gmt":"2009-03-06T15:29:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/?p=4572"},"modified":"2021-01-07T12:03:17","modified_gmt":"2021-01-07T11:03:17","slug":"stand-out-or-fit-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/stand-out-or-fit-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Stand Out\u2014or Fit In?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"skittles-collage\"<\/a><\/div>\n

There\u2019s no doubt that Skittles<\/a> created attention with their extreme makeover! Not only here at Corporate Eye (Media<\/a> and Brand<\/a>), but all over the web\u2014discussed and debated by bloggers, social media mavens, and even the relatively staid Wall Street Journal (which provides an interesting analysis).<\/p>\n

An interesting part about this: the Skittles site was already more than a little bizarre. (If you don\u2019t recall–or never saw–the \u201cbefore\u201d version, visit the Wayback Machine<\/a>. ) So the change may be more noteworthy for its wholesale embrace of postmodern media than merely for novelty per se.<\/p>\n

Of course my investigation has to focus on the Careers aspect, which leads to Skittles\u2019 parent company, Mars<\/a>. And switching to the Mars site is like going back over the Skittles Rainbow to land in Kansas again:<\/p>\n

\"mars-careers\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a pleasant design and the site has pleasant functionality. In short\u2014it fits into a visitor\u2019s expectations. But it doesn\u2019t stand out.\u00a0 (Even when you discover that you can drag the M&Ms around.)<\/div>\n

If you are planning a makeover of the Careers site, or even starting from scratch, one of the fundamental design decisions is whether to play it safe or spice it up. A Careers site that looks like 85% of all others runs the risk of boring visitors\u2014or at least, not getting their attention. On the other hand, a site that is radically different from the mainstream is open to one of several visitor interpretations:<\/p>\n